SEV Biblia, Chapter 11:2
Porque por sta alcanzaron testimonio los ancianos.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Hebrew 11:2
Verse 2. For by it the elders obtained a good report.] By the elders are meant ancestors, forefathers, such as the patriarchs and prophets, several of whom he afterwards particularly names, and produces some fact from the history of their lives. It is very remarkable that among the whole there is root one word concerning poor Adam and his wife, though both Abraham and Sarah are mentioned. There was no good report concerning them; not a word of their repentance, faith, or holiness. Alas! alas! did ever such bright suns set in so thick a cloud? Had there been any thing praiseworthy in their life after their fall, any act of faith by which they could have been distinguished, it had surely come out here; the mention of their second son Hebel would have suggested it. But God has covered the whole of their spiritual and eternal state with a thick and impenetrable veil. Conjectures relative to their state would be very precarious; little else than hope can be exercised in their favour: but as to them the promise of Jesus was given, so we may believe they found redemption in that blood which was shed from the foundation of the world. Adam's rebellion against his Maker was too great and too glaring to permit his name to be ever after mentioned with honour or respect.
The word emarturhqhsan, which we translate obtained a good report, literally signifies, were witnessed of; and thus leads us naturally to GOD, who by his word, as the succeeding parts of the chapter show, bore testimony to the faith and holiness of his servants. The apostle does not mention one of whom an account is not given in the Old Testament. This, therefore, is God's witness or testimony concerning them.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 2. For by it the elders obtained a good report .] By whom are meant, not merely old men, or elders in age, but such who lived in ancient times; some before the flood, and to a great age, and others who were in office, civil or ecclesiastical, and were the ancestors and predecessors of the Hebrews; who in general obtained or received a good report from God; that they were the chosen of God, and were justified and accepted with him; that they were the children and friends of God, and should be glorified; and from men, from good men, for their faith and holiness; and from evil men, for their good works: and these also believed the report of the Gospel, and gave a good report of God, and of the good land, and adorned their profession; particularly, Abel received a good report, that he was righteous; and Enoch, that he pleased God, and walked with him; and Noah, that he was a just man, perfect in his generation, and also walked with God; and Abraham, that he was a believer, a friend of God, and one that feared and obeyed him; and Job, that he was a man that feared God, and shunned evil; and Moses, that he was a meek man, and a faithful one; and David, that he was a man after God's own heart, and fulfilled his will; and so others: and they received this report by faith, and as a fruit of it; which shows that faith is no new thing, and that the character of a believer is an old and honourable one. The apostle mentions this, to take off the Hebrews from any esteem of their traditionary elders, who had got a name, not by their faith, but by their traditions; and to engage their imitation of men of antiquity, authority, and wisdom superior to them; and to let them know, unless they had the same faith with their ancestors, it would be a vain thing to boast of descent from them.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-3 - Faith always has been the mark of God's servants, from the beginning of the world. Where the principle is planted by the regenerating Spirit of God, it will cause the truth to be received, concerning justificatio by the sufferings and merits of Christ. And the same things that ar the object of our hope, are the object of our faith. It is a fir persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promise to us in Christ. This persuasion gives the soul to enjoy those thing now; it gives them a subsistence or reality in the soul, by the first-fruits and foretastes of them. Faith proves to the mind, the reality of things that cannot be seen by the bodily eye. It is a ful approval of all God has revealed, as holy, just, and good. This view of faith is explained by many examples of persons in former times, wh obtained a good report, or an honourable character in the word of God Faith was the principle of their holy obedience, remarkable services and patient sufferings. The Bible gives the most true and exact accoun of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and not to wres the Scripture account of the creation, because it does not suit with the differing fancies of men. All that we see of the works of creation were brought into being by the command of God.
Greek Textus Receptus
εν 1722 ταυτη 3778 γαρ 1063 εμαρτυρηθησαν 3140 5681 οι 3588 πρεσβυτεροι 4245
Vincent's NT Word Studies
2. For by it (en tauth gar). Lit. for in this. Rend. therein: in the sphere and exercise of faith: as believers. Comp. 1 Tim. v. 10. For introduces a proof of the preceding statement concerning the nature of faith. Faith has power to see and realize the unseen, for the experience of the fathers proves it.
The elders obtained a good report (emarturhqhsan oi presbuteroi). The elders for the more common the fathers: the saints of the O.T. dispensation, many of whose names are recorded in this chapter. Emarturhqhsan, lit. were born witness to. God bore witness to them in the victory of their faith over all obstacles, and their characters and deeds as men of faith were recorded in Scripture. For this use of maturein in the passive, see Acts vi. 3; x. 22; xvi. 12; Rom. iii. 21; Heb. vii. 8, 17. Notice that the statement in this verse does not begin the list of examples, which commences with ver. 4, but is closely attached to the definition in ver. 1 as a comprehensive justification of it.
